Feedback and complaints

We really appreciate hearing from people about what they think of us, our work, and our approach.

Feedback is so important because:

• it influences the decisions we make as an organisation
• it helps us uphold high standards for our activities and services
• it highlights crucial issues and can spur positive changes. Your feedback makes a real difference.

Compliments are invaluable because:

• they show us what we're doing right and the positive impact we're making for our supporters and stakeholders
• they allow us to give our hardworking team, whether paid or unpaid, the positive feedback they deserve
• they shape the ongoing development of what we do, why we do it, and how.

Please provide us with as much information as possible about your complaint including:

• dates/time
• location
• names of any staff members involved
• how this affects you
• any specific actions you wish for us to take to resolve your complaint.

Stage 1

We aim to complete our Stage 1 investigation within 10 working days of acknowledging your complaint. Sometimes it might take a bit longer if the issue is more complex, but don’t worry we’ll keep you in the loop if that happens.

We'll be working closely with the right team members and stakeholders within Dogs Trust to dig into your complaint and figure out the best way forward. We’ll give you a call with the details (if we have your contact info). Here’s what you can expect from our response:

• how we understand your complaint
• what we did during our investigation, including the evidence we looked at from you and the relevant areas within Dogs Trust, plus anything else that helped us decide.
• our final decision.

To comply with data protection laws, we can only address complaints from individuals who have directly interacted with Dogs Trust. We may be unable to assist if you are submitting a complaint on behalf of someone else unless they initiate contact with us and give permission for us to discuss their concerns with a third party.

There are certain situations in which we may not be able to respond to a complaint:

• If a complaint is illegible or incoherent, we will be unable to respond
   
• If a complainant is being abusive, offensive, or harassing our staff or volunteers, we will not respond to the complaint.
   
• If a complaint has been sent as a mass communication to us and other charities, we may not respond.
   
• If a complainant unreasonably pursues a matter that we have already provided our full and final response to, we will not provide further responses.
   
• Making excessive demands on staff while a complaint is being dealt with, and/or sending a high volume of letters, emails, and/or phone calls may result in us not responding to the complaint.
   
• If a complaint is made anonymously, we may decide at our discretion to investigate the complaint and use the information to improve, but if contact details are not provided, we cannot respond directly.
   
• If meetings and/or conversations are electronically recorded without the prior knowledge and consent of the other people involved, we may not respond to the complaint.

There are certain situations where our complaint procedure may not be suitable, such as:

• Requests for information, instructions (e.g., to stop receiving raffle tickets), or explanations of policy or practice
• Appeals to have a complaint reconsidered after we have provided our full and final response
• Requests to stop or access personal data (e.g., opting out of marketing communications, making a subject access request).

We expect all communications to be respectful and professional in nature. Should any verbal or written communications be deemed offensive or abusive, we reserve the right to enforce our policy regarding unreasonable or vexatious conduct.

Call our Customer Support Centre: Phone lines are open every day from 8.30am to 5pm

Email us your feedback: Compliments & Feedback team or Complaints team

Write to us: Feedback & Complaints Team, Dogs Trust Customer Support Centre, Parkway, Denton, Manchester, M34 3SG

Visit us: You can provide feedback directly to a member of staff at one of our rehoming centres or charity shops.

If your complaint is about our fundraising work or activities and you do not feel satisfied with our response, you are entitled to take it to the Fundraising Regulator. Please note, that the Fundraising Regulator asks that complainants do so within two months of receiving a response from Dogs Trust.

As a member of the Fundraising Regulator, Dogs Trust is committed to abiding by any decision they reach on complaints that are escalated to them.

Their contact details are:

Fundraising Regulator
2nd Floor CAN Mezzanine Building
49-51 East Road
London
N1 6AH.

Tel: 0300 999 3407
Email: enquiries@fundraisingregulator.org.uk
Website: www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk and https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/complaints

Other areas of work

If your complaint is about other areas of our work, you can contact the below:

• The Charity Commission (England & Wales) 
• The Scottish Charity Regulator
• The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland
• The Advertising Standards Authority 
• The Information Commissioner’s Office